the Red convertable

Henry and Lyman were brother that lived on a reservation.  They shared a old red convertible with each other.  But now Henry owns all of it.  Lyman got his money for through various jobs.  He seemed to be lucky when it came to earning money.  At first he shined shoes in the American Legion Hall.  Then he sold spiritual bouquets for the mission.  The nuns at the mission let him keep part of the money.  Then he started to wash dishes at this restaurant then became the manager, then owning it.  But after one year as owner it blew down.  They saw the car with a FOR SALE sign in the window.  They immediately bought it.  Henry and Lyman drove may places in that old car.  The details didn’t matter to them.  But they do remember this place in willows.  They laid under trees and meet a girl called Sussy.  She needed a ride to her home in Alaska.  Her home was welcoming and they didn’t want to leave.  The family put them up and feed them.  The kids could ot get over the fact that the brothers didn’t look the same.  They had the same mother.  Soon they left that place and went down through Spokane, Montana along the Canadian border until they got home. It was at that point that the army remembered Henry and took him.  After sending two letters the enemy caught him and there he stayed for three years.   For the government the war was over, but for Henery it was still going on.  He didn’t come back the same.  He was quieter then usual, always moving around, never sitting still.  He was put under a spell  by the  TV. Lyman and his mom talked about sending to the doctor but they might keep him.  So Lyman decided to mess up the car to reach his brother.  It worked,  but in the end they drove it to the river and Henry went under the current.  So Lyman made sure the car followed him down the river. 

     When the story first started out I did not understand the beginning.  “ we own it (the car) together until his boots filled with water on a windy night and he bought out my share.  Now Henry owns the whole car and his younger brother Lyman (that’s myself), Lyman walks everywhere he goes.”  When I got to the end I understood it.  It kind of acts as a framing device for the story.  But the brother aspect of the story is interesting.  We learn  a lot about Lyman because he is the narrator, but not as much about Henry.  We learn that he was laid off from a job and that he is quiet and “built like a brick out house” with a big nose that was sharp as a hatchet.  After that we lear about the effects the war had on him, that he watches television with his had griping the chair or he became a loner.  He became jumpy and mean.  I do wonder why we don’t learn that much about his personality until after he is affected by the war.   I wonder what was actually on the television that made him keep his attention there for so long?  It also seemed like that brothers loved wondering.  They knew they had a home to go back to and their mother did not seem that too shook up about it.  I don’t think they cared where they went as much as they cared about the journey and the people they meet.  I think the reason why Susy stood out to them was because she had a family and they enjoyed their time there.  The Ending was sad, because Henry came to the realization that he won’t be normal again and he decides to commit suicide. Lyman sends the car in after him be